Brighton vs Chelsea result: Alireza Jahanbakhsh goal denies Frank Lampard first win of 2020

Brighton 1-1 Chelsea: Jahanbakhsh's stunning goal in the 83rd minute denied Chelsea victory at The Amex

Chelsea were denied their first win of 2020 by Alireza Jahanbakhsh's brilliant, acrobatic goal late in a game which errupted into life in the 83rd minute.

Cesar Azpilicueta scored the Premier League's first goal of the new decade to hand Chelsea a comfortable lead, but a late barrage from Brighton saw the defence breached in the most spectacular of ways.

Frank Lampard's side enjoyed an easy ride during the first hour and were largely untroubled, Kepa Arrizabalaga forced into just the one noteworthy save in the first 60 minutes, but a late barrage after a tactical switch from Graham Potter saw the points shared.

A change to 4-4-2 and the introduction of Jahanbakhsh turned the tide in favour of the home side, who eventually got their reward seven minutes from time shortly after Kepa thought he preserved the three points for Chelsea with an impressive close-range stop from Aaron Connolly.

Here's five things we learned

1. Jahanbakhsh lights up festive bore

With the game trudging to a conclusive Chelsea victory, Jahanbakhsh lit up the Amex Stadium with a stunning bicycle-kick to justify what had until the 83^rd minute had been an advert for everything wrong with the festive schedule.

With teams desperate to do well in the league, full squad rotation has been rare and as a result the standard of football has plummeted.

2. Chelsea face fight to hold onto fourth

The Christmas period had the potential to derail Lampard’s impressive start to the season. Defeats against Southampton, Bournemouth and Everton in December may have opened the door for a Premier League rival to sneak through.

Thankfully their rivals are Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, but Lampard can no longer rely on the failings of other sides, who incidentally have started to close the gap.

Two points dropped against Brighton could prove crucial in the long-run and this poor set of results for Chelsea may spell a difficult second-half of the season.

3. Forget the future, Reece James is the present

No player made more tackles that Reece James in the first half and no player managed to dribble past him at all during the opening 45 minutes. The performance was akin to watching a care-free Aaron-Wan Bissaka during his peak at Crystal Palace, which is more than a compliment.

Reece James was in good form against Brighton (Getty) (Getty Images)

His path to the England side may be blocked by the world-class Trent-Alexander Arnold, but there is absolutely nothing stopping him from making the right-back place at Chelsea his for the next ten years.

At the Amex there was little ground on the right side that he failed to cover, linking up well with Willian throughout on the over and underlaps to cause problematic overloads for the Brighton defence. Lampard has uncovered a number of gems in his time in charge, a lot of them shiny and in attacking areas, but this diamond of a defender may be his best so far.

4. Lampard faces difficult decisions in January

On the face of it one would assume that Chelsea are in need of some fresh additions to a squad that has not seen any new arrivals due to a transfer ban. But why fix what isn’t that broken?

Lampard has rotated his squad a fair amount during the season and introduced new players from the impressive academy production line.

It is clear that he wants depth in the central forward area, Olivier Giroud not up to his standard and Michy Batshuayi second-choice, but beyond this it feels harsh to replace a squad that has rewarded his faith. Bringing in, say, Wilfried Zaha at a time when Willian is playing so well and Christian Pulisic is getting better with every performance may not justify the huge outlay.

The window will also present him with a new test as a manager, one that will see him have to balance the harmony and explain to a younger player why their path to the first team has just been blocked by a Ben Chilwell-sized wall, for example.

There were a number of times that Lampard turned away in frustration at Chelsea's inability to kill the game off with a second goal, that, perhaps, might tempt the management to dip into the market sooner than they may have anticipated.

5. New ways to judge Brighton

What would determine success for Brighton this year? In seasons gone by staying up in the Premier League was paramount to the campaign, but this time it feels a little different.

With comfortable wins against Tottenham and Arsenal already in the bag this year, Brighton can be forgiven for thinking that they might get something more out of Chelsea today.

That is then something of a compliment for Potter and where this team is. 24 points on the board after 21 games is a relatively healthy return and the quality of football, especially when Mooy gets going, suggests there is no real danger of going down. It’s what comes next that is difficult. The Premier League abyss between 16^th and 10^th. The nothingness.

Brighton must manage expectations to ensure that in the future when a top quality side comes and dominates as they would assume that the stadium is not as flat as it appeared this afternoon.

The team is well-built and has a brilliant spine, with the right attacking options to compliment. Things are going well on the south coast, and you sense this may just be the start.